Dancing Snow
by Tennyo
Summary: Darien Shields was a businessman whose only comforts were the money he brought in everyday and the occassional woman he slept with. However, everything changes when a wish he never voices out loud is granted. The childhood he had never enjoyed is given to
1. prologue

Dancing Snow  
  


–-:prologue.  
  
\\.Tennyo  
  
---  
  
_Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright…_  
  
It certainly was bright, but calm? Not exactly.  
  
With all the people and the mayhem happening around the mall, it was hard not to notice that Christmas was rapidly approaching. Everywhere you looked, there was tinsel, or a garland or a cheery elf all strategically placed to look festive. Garish decorations, bright lights, hyperactive children, harried parents, it was amazing that the government didn't declare Christmas a health hazard.  
  
And in the middle of the chaos, Serena stood dressed in her ill-fitting pea green elf costume trying to keep a cheery smile on her face as she helped kids on and off of Santa's lap. It got harder and harder as the kids seemed to get heavier and more beastly, but it was for a good cause.  
  
That became her mantra for a while as she kept the smile pasted to her face.  
  
Her grin diminished a little as another child kicked her in the shins as she lifted. There was no cause on earth good enough for her to endure this kind of punishment.  
  
She forced the smile back in place as she walked back to her spot at Santa's side, ignoring the idiotically beaming parents of the little hell spawn. She learned that no matter how evil a child was its parents always saw the best in it. 'Oh, he kicked you? I'm sure it was an accident.' 'Oh, he pulled your hair? Isn't that cute?' 'Oh, he punched you in the face, laughed and did it a few more times? Aw! Such a playful little imp isn't he?' It got to the point where Serena vowed never to even think about having a child.  
  
How did she get herself into this? She was intelligent. She worked hard. How did a college student looking to make extra cash over the winter break end up dressed up like a clown and reduced to being abused by children just for $7.50 an hour? It wasn't right!  
  
In her opinion, Christmas sucked anyways. It was all too commercial and a waste of time. Nothing meant anything anymore. All a gift showed was what you could afford to buy and that you conformed with the rest of the masses. And like the rest of them, all the money she made there would go toward a present or two that would be forgotten in the next months.  
  
Sighing, she bent down to pick up a dropped rattle and noticed that a group of teen boys grinning and looking up her too short skirt. That was the last straw.  
  
Serena whirled and threw the rattle at the one guy's head. She grinned in satisfaction as it bounced off his forehead leaving an angry red mark.  
  
His buddies started laughing at him, and for a moment Serena thought he looked like he was about to cry.  
  
"I'm telling the manager!" he yelled as he stomped off with his buddies in tow.  
  
"Fine by me! I quit anyways!" She ripped off the ridiculous elf's hat and ears and threw them at the fake Santa's house with all her might. That was when things started to get a little nasty.  
  
Kids who were in line saw her removing the costume and started crying. Parents tried to calm them down while giving her dirty looks for ruining their kid's belief in Santa. But she didn't care.  
  
Then she heard the creaking and looked over at the plywood house. The things she had thrown were apparently too much for the flimsy construct to handle. The roof of the house started to bend under the weight of the hat. With wide eyes, Serena could literally see it warp, bend and then break, sending the rest of the house down with it.  
  
Within seconds the children had rioted, attacking the house and the man dressed as Santa. Apparently they were not happy with being duped into believing he was the real Santa, and figured he was the mastermind behind the whole thing.  
  
Serena stood watching stupefied for a moment before deciding that it would be a good time for her to make a hasty exit. She ran to the back room where she kept her things and grabbed her purse before running outside.  
  
"Stop right there!"  
  
Serena stopped and turned to look guiltily at the security guards. To her chagrin they had their walkie-talkies out as well as their tazers drawn. She could see the crowds of people stopping and watching the seen.  
  
She could see it now on the front page of the newspapers 'Crazed Elf Girl Destroys Mall and Runs.'  
  
Serena smiled weakly and put her hands up, answering them in her most innocent voice, "Yes?"  
  
"Mr. Waltham would like to speak with you." They circled around her and led her back into the building.  
  
Serena just let them lead her through. Mr. Waltham? Who was that? Hopefully he was an understanding person. If not, she was in serious trouble.  
  
They took her into the inner recesses of the mall, places that she'd never been before.  
  
By the time they reached the office, Serena was sure she'd never be able to make it back though the maze by herself.  
  
They opened the door and Serena stepped through. At the desk was a man who, for a loss of words, looked jolly. He was large and exuded this warm welcoming presence and if you put a white wig and beard on him he'd be Santa Claus.  
  
"Serena!" he boomed. "Having a little trouble are we?"  
  
"Mr. Waltham I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to cause all that. I was just so frustrated with everything."  
  
"I completely understand. Kids can be quite trying." He stood up and smiled at her. "It's just a shame about the Santa display."  
  
Serena grimaced. "I'll pay for it. I'll think of something I can do to make it up to you, sir."  
  
"How do you propose to do that? I'm assuming you are a student and since you took the job I'm also assuming that you are short on cash." His twinkling blue eyes caught hers, "Am I right?"  
  
"Yes." Her shoulders slumped in defeat. "Isn't there anything I can do to make it up?"  
  
"Well, I really should dismiss you. But, since it's Christmas and I'm feeling charitable I'll give you a second chance."  
  
"Oh thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"  
  
He smiled and shook his head slightly. "Don't thank me just yet. The last position I have is the information desk. Do you think you can handle that?"  
  
"Anything!" Serena was desperate to make good that she would have accepted a job.  
  
"Great. You can start tomorrow."  
  
"Thanks, sir! You won't regret this!" Serena smiled happily at him and almost skipped out of the room.  
  
Mr. Waltham grinned, "And neither will you."  
  
---  
_  
IMPORTANT: The prologue was written by Aria of ariasink.com. I wrote the rest of the upcoming chapters for a Christmas story writing contest that was held at that site.  
  
Thanks for reading! Comments are greatly appreciated!  
  
tennyo012@yahoo.com_


	2. one

Dancing Snow

                   –-:one.

\\.Tennyo

---

          The first day of work at the information desk went by in blur of motion and confusion. Serena had arrived early, just so she could catch the former employee before she left. The woman had jumped at the chance when a vacation opportunity came up and immediately asked for a leave of absence. Serena, however, was not that blessed. She had to stay here and work during her Christmas vacation. Her tight budget barely allowed her to live in her apartment.

          The woman, Sandy was her name, had haphazardly explained how to use the computer and the P.A. system. Serena was still fiddling with all the fancy buttons when a security guard came up to her with a bundle of clothing in his hand.

          "Here," he had said and shoved the bundle into her arms, "Wear this." Then he walked off without another word.

          Serena looked down at the bundle, wondering how many people had worn it before her. It was alright though, the outfit wasn't as bad as the elf one had been. It was a plain blue dress shirt with a dark blue vest. She supposed she had to wear a skirt or something to go with it.

          Serena looked around the lobby where she was stationed. No one was here to hold the fort while she went someplace to change. Maybe if she hadn't been so preoccupied with the P.A. system, she could've asked the security guard who spoke in abrupt phrases to watch the desk for her.

          Now, she didn't know what to do. The information desk was slightly taller than her shoulder when she sat down, and it was the only cover she could possibly get.

          'Oh well', she thought, 'I guess I'll just have to make do.'

          Serena crouched behind the chair and quickly took off her sweater. While buttoning the dress shirt, she heard a child behind her.

          "Mommy, mommy! That lady's naked!"

          That comment froze Serena in mid-motion. The draft of air that she should've felt long ago, was only being felt now. In her hurry to dress, Serena had forgotten to adjust the shirt as she pulled it over her head. In fact, she didn't even pull it over. So busy she was in the task of buttoning, she had not realized that the back of her shirt was so far up her back that it revealed her bra.

          Slowly, Serena turned around, embarrassment creeping up her cheeks. Of course, as fate would have it, a little remark such as that goes unnoticed in the crowded mall. Nooo… people may not hear a person's plead for help when they are being chased by an angry mob, but they _will_ hear a child when he screams someone is naked.

          A crowd had gathered behind her to form a semicircle around the desk. The adults were so preoccupied with pointing and whispering to each other that they didn't even bother covering their children's eyes. Really! People these days! Didn't they have anything better to do than stare at half naked people?

          Slowly, Serena stood up and adjusted her shirt so that it covered everything. She heard a few wolf calls from the crowd and some groans of disappointment.

          "I was just scratching my back!" she yelled at the crowd.

          A few understanding heads nodded here and there, but the rest of the multitude remained unconvinced.

          "Really!" she said, "I'm allergic to eggnog!"

          "Then why'd you drink it?" someone shouted from the back. It was always those bastards from the back that ruined us all.

          "I didn't know it was eggnog!" she yelled back.

          A few more people shook their heads and walked away, muttering things like "those poor college students… so hungry they need to eat foods they're allergic to." 

          Finally, as Serena continued to glare at the rest of the crowd, they finally dispersed. Maybe they finally realized there wasn't going to be a striptease in the middle of a crowded mall.

          Serena rolled her eyes and turned around in a huff. She picked up the forgotten sweater and folded it into a neat pile. She eyed the wrinkled vest for awhile, and then decided against wearing it. Who's going to notice anyway?

          Well lo and behold, the first person that comes up to her with an inquisitive look on her face asked her why she wasn't wear the standard information desk vest.

          "Um… I'm sorry, and you are?" Serena asked. She wasn't about to be bullied by some random customer!

          "You don't need to know who I am, missy," the old woman rattled, "What happened to Sandy? What did you do to her?"

          "Nothing, miss. Sandy went on vacation."

          "She did, did she?" the old woman seemed to dwell on that for awhile, "Well you better get to wearing that vest or else I'm going to tell Johnny he needs to look for a new employee."

          "Johnny?" Serena asked politely.

          "Jonathan Waltham. He's my grandson," the old woman continued on, ignoring the shocked look on Serena's face. "Now I know he could be a pushy bastard sometimes, but that's only because he's got the old Waltham family blood in him. I raised that boy up well, I tell ya. His momma was never home; too busy with her real estate business, so I'm the only person he's got."

          Serena was growing more and more confused with each passing moment. Who was this woman and why was she telling Serena her life story? Fine, she was Mr. Waltham's grandmother. So how old did that make him? Heck, how old did that make her? The old woman didn't seem all that old, but Mr. Waltham had to be in his 50's. 

          "-ey!" the old woman snapped in her face, "You paying attention?"

          Serena nodded absently and the woman shook her head. She started walking in the direction of the office, while muttering "…young'uns these days don't pay attention to their elders no more."

          After that, Serena's day was pretty normal. Luckily, normal people asked her normal questions and she didn't have much trouble telling them where the stores were located.

          However, as noon quickly approached, Serena began to wonder how she was going to eat. There didn't seem to be anyone to take her place at the desk, and if she wasn't here, who would answer these people's questions?

          Sadly, the response to _her_ question was her grumbling stomach. She stared at the large clock that hung on the wall behind her for awhile, and didn't notice the boy until he was practically crawling over the desk to get her attention. Once Serena snapped out of her stupor, she swirled around in her chair and didn't see anyone.

          She looked around the mall, convinced that she had seen someone out of the corner of her eye. Maybe she was getting delusional and needed to see a therapist about crawling monkeys running loose in the mall. Or maybe she just was just hungry. Yeah, that was it.

          The boy grew impatient as he stared at the incompetent woman behind the desk. What was wrong with her? Didn't she see him?

          "Hey!"

          Serena's eyes flew to the direction of the voice and finally saw a pair of cobalt blue eyes giving her an unfriendly look.

          "Yes? May I help you?" she asked and stood up a little to peer over the edge of her desk. The only thing that she saw was half of his head with his nose resting on the edge of her desk. The boy couldn't have been more than four feet tall. Where were his parents?

          "Where are my parents?" he asked. 

          "What's your name? Maybe I can help you find them," she asked politely

          "Darien," he said, "Darien Shields."

          Serena smiled and walked over to the other side of the desk. She held her hand out and Darien looked at her warily. Could he trust this lady?

          Whatever instinct that had brought him here, made him trust this woman. Darien had been wandering the streets of Manhattan the whole morning, not knowing where he was or how he had gotten there. However, as he observed the people around him, he noticed the people who were around his height had taller people holding their hands. They were walking around like they had some place to go.

          So from that, Darien concluded that he needed to find a tall person that he could trust (because he couldn't just let _anyone_ hold his hand) to take him where he needed to go. From another observation, he gathered that these tall people holding the short people were called parents from a conversation he had overheard.     Despite the fact that he didn't know where he needed to go, he had ended up here in search for a parent. This was, after all, the information desk. The information desk should hold all kinds of information should it not? 

Logically, Darien had decided that whoever this parent was should be able to take him to wherever he needed going.

Serena brought the young boy around the desk and led him to sit on her chair. She leaned against the desk and brought the microphone up to her lips and announced over the P.A.:

"Attention. Attention Mr. and Mrs. Shields. Please report to the information desk. Mr. and Mrs. Shields, please report to the information desk in the front lobby."

Darien looked around, startled at the loud voice that suddenly boomed from every direction. Serena smiled at him and put her hand on his shoulder in reassurance.

"Don't worry. Your parents will be here soon to pick you up."

"How do you know?"

"Because I just announced it so that they could hear me."

"Was that loud voice you?"

"Uh…yeah," Serena answered.

"Wow. You must be God," Darien said in awe.

"Uh… heh. Heh." Serena chuckled and scratched the back of her neck, "No, silly! That was just the P.A. system." She pointed to the microphone next to the computer. "See! This device amplifies my voice so that everyone in the mall could hear me when I have an announcement to make."

"Ahh…" Darien nodded in understanding. "So where's God?"

Serena smiled and began to get a little nervous. These were the type of questions her little cousin kept asking her when he was young. She would answer his questions, but eventually, it would lead to a question that she couldn't answer.

"God's in heaven, sweetie."

"Where's heaven then?"

"Heaven's somewhere that doesn't exist on earth."

"So where DOES heaven exist?"

"Heaven exists where God is."

"So where's God?"

"God's in heaven."

"So where's hea-?" 

Serena quickly clasped her hand over his mouth. "Only God can answer that question, honey." Once she removed her hand, however, he still wasn't satisfied.

"So where's God?"

In a brilliant stroke of genius, Serena decided to try a new method. "God is everywhere around you."

Darien looked around frantically, trying to search the mall for God. "Really? Where is He? How come I can't see Him?"

"God isn't physically here, but if you talk to Him, He will hear you."

Darien nodded thoughtfully. "So if I talk to Him now, will He answer me?"

Serena tilted her head. "Yes, but in His own way."

"What do you mean?"

"He won't actually speak to you, but He will answer you through other means."

"Really?"

"Yup."

"Wow…"

For a while, they sat there in silence while they waited patiently for the arrival of Darien's parents. However, as the hours ticked by and there was no sign of a frenzied parental unit rushing to her desk about a missing child, Serena began to worry.

"When did you guys arrive at the mall, Darien?"

Darien, who was busy swirling around in Serena's chair, came to a full stop that left the world spinning. For a moment there, Serena thought he was going to be sick. She went over to him and stroked his back in reassurance.

"Are you all right?"

Once Darien stopped feeling nauseous, he smiled up at the woman in front of him. He felt so safe in this woman's presence, like she would hold the world at bay even if it went crashing down around him.

"What's your name?" he asked suddenly.

"My name's Serena."

"Serena… that's a pretty name."

"Thank you, my mother thought so too. Speaking of which, I asked when your parents came to the mall."

"Oh, I came to the mall right before I came to your desk."

"What? YOU came to the mall?"

"Yup," he said proudly.

"Where are you parents then?"

Darien shrugged. "Aren't you supposed to know?"

Serena drew back in shock. "If your parents didn't come with you to the mall, then how did you get here?"

"I walked."

"From where?"

"I don't know."

Serena's face paled as realization finally dawned. What was she going to do? A missing child? Who knows how far this boy had wondered from? What would they do to him if she went to the police?

"Do you at least know where you live?"

Darien shook his head. What was with this lady? Why did she suddenly grow pale? Is she sick? Should he pat her back like she did to him?

"What borough?"

"What's a borough?"

Serena slumped down onto the floor and buried her face in her hands. What in the world could she do? She's a college student! No one ever taught her how to take care of a child!

Darien hopped off the swivel chair and walked up to her. "Are you okay, Serena?"

With Serena sitting on the floor, she was almost at eye level with Darien standing up. She noticed then that his clothing was impeccably ironed, without a trace of any wrinkles. He was wearing a white dress shirt, neatly tucked into charcoal slacks. And his feet were tucked into a pair of polished black dress shoes. From the looks of it, he seemed to have come from a well off family. That information at least helped her narrow it down a little. Perhaps he belonged to one of those rich families that lived in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Maybe she could bring him to one of the police precincts there.

Serena stood up with renewed determination, glad that she could help this boy get back home. Meanwhile, all she needed was a way to get out of here. The sooner she got to the police, the more time they would have to search for his parents.

"Come," Serena said with her hand held out, "Let's go ask Mr. Waltham if he could let us go find your parents."

Without a question, Darien took her hand and they marched towards the office. The crowd was thinning anyway, so Mr. Waltham just might let her leave early. Better yet, maybe he would know what to do! Surely this couldn't be the only time a child went missing in his mall!

Serena knocked on the door that led to his office. There was no reply, so she knocked again. He couldn't have left already, could he? It was only three in the afternoon! Serena prepared to knock again, but the door finally opened.

Serena smiled widely, and then her face faltered. It was only his secretary.

"May I help you?" the secretary asked impatiently without a change in his expression. Serena wondered if he often saw people look at him in disappoint because they weren't looking for him. Maybe he was used to it.

"Yes, um. I'm looking for Mr. Waltham."

"He's gone," he said abruptly and began to close the door.

"Wait!" she shoved her foot against the door, preventing him from closing it.

The secretary eyed her foot in the doorway and gave her an unpleasant look. "Look, lady. What do you want? We're kinda busy here."

"We? Who's we? I thought you said Mr. Waltham was gone."

"He IS lady. You need to clean out your ears." He attempted to shut the door on her but her foot wouldn't budge.

"Look, I just need some help. This boy," Serena bought Darien forward from behind her, "This boy is looking for his parents. Do you know what I should do?"

The secretary just stared at her like six heads had suddenly popped out from her shoulders. "You go to the police! DUH!"

Serena, angered by this man's rudeness, was prepared to give him a piece of her mind, but he slammed the door in her face. He had taken advantage of that second it took her to make up her mind about punching his face in and quickly locked the door behind him.

"Crap!" Serena kicked the door and muttered a few choice words. Darien, puzzled by the whole situation, began kicking the door too. It was pretty fun, actually, and he began to enjoy himself immensely.

Serena, finally realizing what that ruckus was all about asked Darien to stop. "Come on, Darien. We need to find your parents." 

Serena angrily marched towards the information desk with Darien in tow. Screw this. Mr. Waltham wasn't here, anyway. And never mind him! The nerve of that secretary! If she saw that asshole again tomorrow, she wasn't going to hesitate about conducting violence in front of innocent children.

She gathered her belongings and walked towards the bathroom to change into her sweater. At first, she didn't know what to do with Darien. She couldn't just leave him out here alone! But as soon as she saw another woman walk into the bathroom with a toddler in her hand, she brought Darien in with her too. If anyone asks, she'll just say he's her son. Naw… that'll make her seem old. He'll be her nephew then! Of her…nonexistent sibling. Oh whatever, people shouldn't be so nosy anyway.

Serena quickly dressed and came out of the bathroom. When they were out in the cold wind, she finally realized that Darien didn't have a jacket on him.

"What happened to your jacket?"

"Uh… I don't have one."

"I thought you said you walked to the mall yourself. Weren't you cold?"

"A little, but it wasn't that bad."

Serena looked around the streets, as if the answer she was searching for would suddenly appear. What could she do? She very well could not let Darien walk around in the freezing cold without a jacket!

Quickly, Serena made up her mind. She had planned on spending the money she had managed to save on a nifty new laptop. It would have eased up things a little if she was able to carry it to her classes. Her note-taking skills weren't quite up to par yet, and her old computer was dying on her.

"Argh!" Serena clutched her empty hand in frustration. She quickly turned back into the mall and headed to the nearest clothing department. It was okay, she thought. Her Pentium II processor could still handle her workload. Couldn't it? If she didn't use it as much, and kicked it a little, it would still work.

Darien tugged on her sleeves. "Where are we going?"

Serena's problems left her for a moment as she looked at his clear blue eyes. She smiled at him and felt instantly better. What was she complaining about? This was the season of giving!

"We're going to get you a jacket."

His eyes widened in excitement. "Really?" he began to skip along next to her. "That's so cool! Do I get to pick it out?"

Serena nodded, her heart warming up with the knowledge that she could please him with a simple act of kindness. She led him to the boys' section and they wandered around for awhile, searching for the perfect jacket.

Finally, Darien saw it. "How about this one?" he said excitedly while picking up a green tweed jacket.

Serena flinched at the horrendous color and hoped Darien didn't notice her expression. Apparently, he didn't because his wide grin never fell.

"Uh… sure. Why won't you try it on?"

Darien struggled into the jacket, only to find that it didn't fit him quite well. Luckily, the jacket was the only one left and it was too small for him. Serena breathed a sigh of relief. Even though she was growing fond of him with each passing minute, she wouldn't have liked spending her savings on an ugly jacket.

"How about this one?" Darien picked up a black bubble jacket and began squishing it. He watched in fascination as the jacket deflated and inflated again when he removed his hand.

Serena nodded in approval. "This looks good! These kinds of jackets keep you especially warm in the winter."

"How come?"

"Because of the down feathers- they keep in your body heat."

Darien nodded in comprehension and Serena went to the checkout line to pay for it. Serena glanced at the price tag and winced. Prices weren't this high in her day! This was just a lousy jacket! Ok, it wasn't lousy, but it cost over a hundred dollars!

Serena breathed in deeply. Everything was okay as long as Darien was happy and warm. Besides, it was Christmas! The spirit of giving and taking-er, sharing!

She forked the money over and smiled stiffly at the clerk. The clerk behind the desk smiled back uneasily; she was getting a lot of those looks lately. It really wasn't her fault that prices were like this! However, some customers seemed to be unaware of this fact, or they decided to momentarily forget it. See, she had to start bringing in her pepper spray now.

Serena had to control herself not to strike out at the clerk for these outrageous prices. It took more effort than was pretty, but muttering "It's Christmas" under her breath like a mantra proved to be effective- for now. Later, much later, Serena might dwell on the fact that she had just purchased an expensive jacket for a boy she barely knew. However, whatever instinct that had prompted her to buy the jacket, just as easily dismissed the thought.

It was Christmas, after all.

---

tennyo012@yahoo.com Feedback please! ;]


	3. two

Dancing Snow

                   –-:two.

\\.Tennyo

---

          The frosty wind slammed into her as she walked out of the mall with Darien in tow. Serena clutched Darien's warm little hand and tried to muster her strength to face the winter cold. She really needed to start checking the weather forecast sometime. The sweater, however cozy it was, wasn't enough to keep the arctic breeze at bay.

          "Where are we going?" Darien asked.

          "We're going to the police station," Serena replied, "They might be able to find your parents."

          "Oh, ok," he said, "So how are we getting there?"

          "By the subway."

          "The subway? What's that?"

          "It's an underground train."

          "What's a train?"

          "It's…" Serena couldn't quite explain, "You'll see."

          Fortunately, the subway station was only a block away, so they didn't have to walk far. When they approached the stairs, Serena was amused to see little Darien concentrating so hard on walking down the stairs.

          "Do you need any help?"

          "No," he said stubbornly, "I got it."

          Slowly, but surely, they made it down the steps without too much trouble. After Darien placed his short legs on the concrete floor, he smiled proudly as if he has just climbed Mount Everest.

          Serena approached the turnstile and was wondering if she needed to pay two fares when Darien walked right under the turnstile and was on the other side. He looked at her expectedly, waiting for her to come through. Meanwhile, Serena was glancing around the station, hoping what he did wasn't illegal and if it was, hoping no one saw her. 

          When there weren't any flashing lights or policemen running towards her, Serena shrugged and walked through. 

          "What now?" Darien asked.

          "We ride the subway."

          "What's that?"

          Serena laughed and patted him on the head. "You'll see in two seconds."

          They walked down another flight of stairs and Serena was relieved to find the subway still there.

          "That," Serena pointed, "Is a subway."

          "Oh… so what does it do?"

          "It's going to take us where we need to go."

          "Oh… so it's good."

          "Yeah, it is."

          "What's that smell then?"

          Serena scrunched her eyebrows and wondered if she was this curious when she was little. The smell that Darien was referring to was a mixture of body odor and other bodily fluids. However, Serena didn't think Darien would really understand that, so she just gave him her usual answer and brought him towards the subway.

          Once they stepped in, Serena was pleased to find out that people gave up their seats for her and Darien. It almost gave her reason to have a child of her own... Naw.

          Halfway through the ride, the lights went out. For a moment, Serena shrugged it off. The lights went out all the time. However, when the subway stopped with it, Serena grew worried.

          "What's going on?" Darien asked.

          Serena looked down, barely able to see his face by the dim emergency lights. "Everything's fine, sweetie. The lights will come back on soon."

          The rest of the passengers seemed to think so too, but when five minutes passed and still no lights, everyone began to panic.

          "What's happening!" A woman yelled. Dozens of shouts followed soon after as the subway began to shake with too many people running around. 

          Finally, the P.A. system came on and everyone fell into a dead silence. 

          "Excuse me ladies and gentlemen," the voice drawled, "We seem to be having some technical difficulties. Please exit through the emergency windows. An operator will escort you to the nearest station. Thank you."

           Serena furrowed her eyebrows. What the hell was going on? Good question.

Where the hell was the answer?

          Meanwhile, people slowly piled out of the subway and into the tunnel. Luckily, they weren't too far from the last stop, so they didn't have very walk far before they reached the platform and onto the streets. 

          Once they were above ground again, Serena frowned. She looked around her surroundings and noticed things were still the same. There weren't any people rushing about like the sky was falling. It's funny how when something messed up in your life, no one else ever really noticed.

          The main predicament however, was still clutching her hand. Serena looked at the little boy still holding her hand and wondered what she was going to do. Serena searched for the street sign and found that they were actually near her apartment. It was more than twenty city blocks away from the police station. She had already spent the last of her money on Darien's jacket, so she couldn't call for a taxi. And no way in hell was she going to walk that far. 

          Serena sighed. How in the world did she go from trying to do a good deed by bringing a lost boy to the police station, to him having to go to her apartment?

          "So where are we going now?" Darien asked for the third time.

          "Home," Serena simply replied.

          "My home?"

          Not wanting to let him down, Serena said, "Hmm… not quite. Are you bored?"

          "Yes!" he jumped up and down, "Are we going to do something fun?"

          "Yeah, we just need to walk for a little bit more," she said, "Then we can have fun. Okay?"

          "Okay!" Darien exclaimed.

          The two walked quickly to Serena's apartment, which was only a block and a half away from the subway station. Once Serena opened the door, she quickly turned on the television in hopes of finding any news on what had just happened in the subway station. Oddly enough, it didn't seem to be working.

          Serena frowned and checked her phone; all she got was empty silence. She whipped her cell phone out. There didn't seem to be any service either. Apparently, the city's electricity seemed to be out. Good thing she was loaded with candles, flashlights, and canned foods. The canned foods, Serena was sad to admit, was her only other source of food, besides ice cream that is. It wasn't that she couldn't afford better, which _is_ getting quite close to the truth, it was that she really couldn't cook. Oh well, it would last them for the night.

          "So," Serena asked, "What do you want to do?"

          Darien shrugged while Serena helped him take his jacket off. "I don't know. What IS there to do?"

          "Well what do you do when you're with your friends?"

          Darien looked down and rubbed his toe against the floor. "I don't… know."

          "What do you mean?"

          Darien began to shift his feet nervously. "I don't… think I had any friends."

          Serena let that sink in for awhile. How could he not have any friends? Or if he did, how could he not remember them? The innocent boy standing in front of her seemed to be filled with mysteries- none of which she had any clue of solving. No matter though! Her favorite motto was to live life one day at a time. Right now, all she could do was deal with the circumstances that were handed to her. Anything else was just extraneous. 

          "Well! We could play hide-and-go-seek! That used to be one of my favorite games when I was a child!"

          "Yeah! How do you play that?"

          "All you have to do is find a hideout while I count to twenty. Then stay there until I find you."

          "Ok!" he exclaimed and ran off to find the best hiding spot.

          Serena chuckled and began counting. He was so enthusiastic about the tiniest things. He acts as if he had never played a game before. 

          "…18…19…20! Ready or not, here I come!" Serena went searching for the little munchkin, but found it increasingly difficult to find him.

          She looked in all of the closets, which there weren't very much of in her tiny apartment, and searched in all the spots that a six-year-old could hide in. Finally, she opened the cabinet door under the bathroom sink and he jumped out at her.

          "Ahh!" she jumped back in surprise.

          "You found me!" Darien giggled.

          "Yeah," she breathed, "You sure know how to hide!"

          "Yeah!" he smiled gallantly, then his eyes widened and he pointed towards the small window in her bathroom. "Look! It's snowing!"

          Serena got up and turned towards the window. "Yeah, it is. It's snowing pretty hard actually. From the looks of it, we might have to stay in tomorrow."

          "So what are we going to do now?"

          "Hold on a minute, I think I should go find my radio. Otherwise, we'll need to go out and buy one before it gets dark." 

          Serena marched into her messy bedroom, determined to find her long lost portable radio. Luckily, it was underneath her bed along with her other piles of junk. She clicked it on and off, and was dismayed to find that there weren't any batteries left.

          "Argh!" Serena groaned, "Looks like we need to go out after all."

          Serena helped Darien into his jacket again, mindful not to forget to wear her own. They went to the closest supermarket and found there were crowds of people waiting to buy batteries too. Well, it looked like the news finally traveled.

          "Hey! Quit shoving!" a woman yelled, "I was here first!"

          "Move over, woman!" a man shouted, "I need these more than you do!"

          "Oh yeah? Well let's see if you can handle this!" the woman gathered all of her strength and shoved the man out of the line and onto the ground.

          The rest of the people stopped their own shoving and looked at the triumphant woman. A few scattered applauses could be heard here and there, and pretty soon, the whole crowd was in an uproar.

          "You go girl!" another woman shouted.

          "That's the way to handle them!" said another.

          "Yeah! Show him what you're made of!"

          Serena, who found herself oddly smiling at the whole scenario, was cheering for the woman. What was even more amusing was seeing the now abashed man apologizing profusely to the woman. The woman just nodded and was shocked when the man gave her his only set of batteries.

          "Here," he said, "I'm sorry for being such a jackass."

          The crowd gave a collective aww, and some people were nice enough to give the man, and others who were lacking, their extra set of batteries. 

          The supermarket manager, a short fellow with a balding head had a broom clutched in his hand as if he were going to smash it over someone's head. He was so startled by the event passing before him that he declared, "All the batteries are free! All the batteries are free! Merry Christmas everybody!"

          The crowd cheered wildly and patted the manager on his back. Some even picked him up onto their shoulders and marched around the supermarket in a mini Christmas parade.

          "Merry Christmas!" the manager shouted above the crowd. The manager, who bore an uncanny resemblance to the elves that Serena saw in her old storybooks, winked at her and tossed her a pack of batteries. 

          "Thank you!" she replied, "Merry Christmas to you too!"

          The manager turned around and looked straight at her. His face seemed to be full of mischief when he said, "No, my dear Serena, Merry Christmas to _you_."

          Serena was confused. How did he… know her name?

---

blargh. This was only four lousy pages. I hope the next one's longer. Thanks for reading!

Feedback!

tennyo012@yahoo.com


	4. three

Dancing Snow

                   –-:three.

\\.Tennyo

---

          Serena didn't know how long they had stayed in the supermarket, but by the time they went back out, the snow was nearly a foot high. Serena was glad to find that the wind wasn't blowing as hard as it had before, that meant they could now play in the snow!

          Darien, the impish child that he was, was miles ahead of the game. Before she knew what hit her (well she _did_ know that it was a snowball), Darien was already making another one in his hands.

          "Ha! Ha!" Darien laughed, "You didn't see that one coming did you?"

          "No…" Serena glared at him, "But I bet you didn't see this one coming either!" Serena quickly tackled him into the deep snow, taking care to take the brunt of the fall. 

          "Ahh!" Darien giggled, "You got me!"

          "I sure did," Serena smiled, "Now who is the Greatest Snow Fighter of all time eh?"

          "I am!"

          "What!" Serena exclaimed and began to tickle him, "Who's the Greatest Snow Fighter of all time?"

          Darien laughed uncontrollably. "You are! You are!"

          Serena stopped her tickle onslaught. "That's right. I am!"

          "Not for long…" he said and hurled another snowball in her direction. "Haha! Got ya again!"

          Serena wiped the snow away from her face and began gathering snow as well. "Why you little…" she packed a snowball and threw it at him, "Aha! Take that!"

          Darien quickly dodged the snowball and began running towards Serena's apartment. "Bet you can't catch me!"

          "I bet you I can!" Serena challenged and began chasing after him. Woo, they boy can run fast. Before long, Serena was huffing and puffing, unable to keep up with the energetic fellow. Damn, she was getting old.

          "Darien!" Serena wheezed, "I give up! I can't catch you. You win."

          Darien, who was a full block ahead of her, ran back. "Who's the Greatest Snow Fighter of all time now?"

          "I am," Serena gasped, "Still!"

          "No, I am!"

          "No, I am!" Serena finally stood up and used her hand to indicate silence. "But you can be the Greatest Snow Runner of all time."

          Darien thought about that for a second, and then nodded reluctantly. "_Fine_, but only if we get to have a Greatest Snow Runner ceremony. I want to have ice cream and pancakes!"

          "Ice cream? Pancakes? Together?"

          Darien nodded.

          "Oh all right. But only if we get to have a Greatest Snow Fighter ceremony too!"

          "Okay!" he agreed.

          They walked the rest of the way to Serena's apartment in merry silence, stopping here and there to point out particularly large snowflakes drifting down to the earth. Darien had even attempted to catch a snowflake on his tongue, but Serena told him not to. Whatever was in our toilets went into the ocean. Whatever was in the ocean went into the atmosphere. Whatever was in the atmosphere is snowing down on you right now. And whatever's snowing down is best left uneaten. 

          That pretty much summed up what Serena told Darien, though he did get slightly confused on how the stuff in toilets ends up in oceans. Unfortunately, that is another story for another time.

          By the time they reached Serena's apartment, the sun was almost past the horizon and the star-filled sky could once again be seen. Most of the time, the enormous amount of city lights, not to mention the pollution, obstructed the stars from view. It was the only silver lining Serena could see right now.

          She sighed and looked at the little boy clutching her hand and looking back at her like she was all he had in this world. All of a sudden, Serena felt a tremendous ache in her heart. She was daunted by the amount of trust Darien had put in her. It made her all the more determined to find his parents. However, a part of her did not want to find his parents. She didn't want to admit it, but she was already growing emotionally attached to this young boy. 

He was just the most adorable little thing with his innocent, cobalt blue eyes and his ruffed up black hair. And it wasn't just that. She saw the shining intelligence in his eyes, and an understanding wisdom that was hard to find for one so young. Heck, she knew people her age that were still highly immature. But beyond all of that, she knew that Darien had a heart of gold. Just by the way he trusted her; she knew that he'll make some girl's heart throb when he gets to that age.

          Serena sighed whimsically as she opened the door to her apartment. She really was getting ahead of herself here. By tomorrow, Darien will be gone and she'll go back to work at the information ask. Everything will go back to its normal… boring… self.

          She cringed. Never mind that! She had a Greatest Snow Fighter and Snow Runner ceremony to attend to!

          Serena closed the door and quickly ushered Darien into the living room. She went into the kitchen and came out with a couple of candles and a lighter. 

          "Better?"

          Darien nodded.

          "Now you wait right here while I prepare a grand feast for our Greatest Snow Runner festival!"

          Serena went into the kitchen in search for the pans that she rarely used. The only reason she had it there in the first place was because her mother had insisted that she learned how to cook _one day_. After all, how was she to please a man if she did not know how to cook?

          Serena's answer was simple: she would get _him_ to cook for _her_. 

          Nevertheless, her inability to cook had a restrictive impact on her life. It reduced her to eating canned foods for the rest of her life (which she heard was terrible for one's health), and caused her to light up another candle so she can read the instructions on her box of pancake mix. Yes, it was true: she did not know how to make pancakes either. In fact, one can safely assume that her "knowledge of cooking" only included instant noodles and other microwaveable substances. Anything else was moot.

          Serena was pleased to find out that when they said instant, they really meant instant. It took her a few tries to get the pancakes done just right, but she eventually perfected the art of pouring the mix into something that resembled a circle. Meanwhile, the other half of their feast was sitting in the freezer. Even though it wasn't working, it still retained most of its coolness.

          "Here we are!" Serena smiled proudly as she walked into the living room with a plateful of steaming pancakes in one hand and syrup in another.

"Mmm…" Darien remarked, "Smells good!"

          "Yeah," Serena muttered, "Let's hope it tastes good too."

          "What?"

          "Never mind," she said, "Now! As with any ceremony, we must begin with a march down the aisle before we make a speech and proceed to the banquet. Since we don't have an aisle, we'll just have to make do."

          "March? What sort of march?"

          "Here," she pulled Darien off the couch, "I'll show you."

          Together, they tried a series of walks until they finally settled on the penguin walk. 

          "Wait! Before we march," Serena exclaimed, "We must have some music!" Serena hurried into her bedroom to dig the old radio/tape-player back out. She stuck the batteries in and hit the play button.

          Lo and behold, the first music that came blaring out was one of her favorites from "The Lion King" soundtrack. God, she loved that movie. 

          Serena placed the radio next to the pancakes on the coffee table and reassumed her position next to Darien. She offered her arm and Darien took it. Together, they marched the short distance from Serena's front door to the end of her couch.

          Serena turned off the radio and cleared her throat. "Now, we will continue with a speech from the recipients of these two honorable awards."

          "A speech?" Darien asked, "How will I do that?"

          "Just watch," Serena said. She winked at him and proceeded to move behind the podium, also known as the back of the couch.

          "Ladies and gentlemen," she paused and waved to their large audience of stuffed animals, "Thank you for voting me as the Greatest Snow Fighter of all time. I am extremely honored to receive this award. I know it's difficult to obtain this award, since it is only given once a millennium, but I am glad that you have bestowed me with this honor."

 Serena bowed and stepped off the podium. She waved for Darien to take her place.

          Darien cleared his throat nervously. "Ladies and gentlewomen," he said, "Thanks for electing me as the Greatest Snow Runner of all time. I'm actually not that great of a runner, but my only competitor, Ms. Serena, couldn't keep up with me. So, thanks." 

Darien stepped off the podium and bowed gracefully. Serena applauded enthusiastically. "Good job Darien," she patted him on the back, "You can become a world famous orator one day."

          "Really?"

          "Yeah."

          "What does an orator do?" he asked.

          "Go around and make speeches, I suppose."

          "Oh, naw. I don't like doing that."

          "Oh, okay. Wanna eat?"

          "Sure!"

          Quickly, they dug into the lukewarm pancake, taking care to use great amounts of syrup. Since it was Christmas, they concluded, it was only fair to eat generous portions of food and use generous amounts of syrup. It was crucial, especially during the holiday seasons, to be generous in all aspects of life- not just in gifts. 

          "Finished!" Darien exclaimed, "What's next?"

          "Ice cream!"

          "Yay!"

          Serena got up to retrieve the tub of chocolate chip ice cream that she had bought last week. Ice cream, if anything, was what kept college students going. That, and pizza too. 

          She grabbed two spoons on her way out, and the two were chomping down in no time. It was amazing what a college student and a little boy could accomplish. Before long, they had finished the whole tub, and were sitting back on the couch with a satisfied expression on their faces. 

          "What are we going to do now?" Darien yawned.

          "I think we need to get you into bed kiddo."

          Darien slumped further into the warm couch. "I don't wanna get up," he slurred.

          Serena got up and offered her hand. "Come on, you have to get up. Sleeping on the couch like that is bad for your posture, not to mention extremely uncomfortable."

          Darien reluctantly got up and took her hand. Together, they walked into Serena's bedroom. The only thing she was proud of in there was the queen sized bed she managed to get on a discount. In fact, the bed took up most of the space in the room, and was the only thing that wasn't covered in clothing and whatnot. 

          Someday, Serena decided, she'd dedicate a week to cleaning up the mess. Meanwhile, all she had to do now was clear a path towards her bed. As long as her bed was accessible, then everything else got put in the back burner. 

          Serena looked at Darien's slacks and dress-shirt. "Um… are you comfortable in that?"

          Darien began to look a little suffocated in that dress shirt. "Yeah… a little," he said while tugging on his collar.

          "Here," Serena waddled her way into her closet and took out her old gym shorts and an old t-shirt, "Put this on."

          Darien, for the first time, felt slightly uncomfortable as his pudgy fingers fiddled with his buttons. "Um… can you help me?"

          "Sure," Serena said automatically and unbuttoned his dress-shirt in no time.

          "Wow!" he exclaimed, "Can you teach me how to do that?"

          Serena patted his head. "It's not something that you learn, Darien. You just need to wait until you get older and your fingers grow longer."

          "Oh," he said disappointedly, "Okay."

          Serena left for the bathroom with her own cotton pajamas that had reindeer patterns all over them. Her mother had gotten it for her last Christmas. At first, she was a little embarrassed by it. How long had it been since she was told that reindeers truly existed? Eventually, however, it became her favorite pajamas. Not because she adored the reindeer patterns (no, she'll never admit to that), but because cotton was just so utterly comfortable. 

          Serena emerged from the bathroom with her bundle of clothes under one arm. The sight before her was truly… hilarious.

          Little Darien had gotten a little confused when it came to unbuttoning his slacks. Or maybe he just didn't know how to do it at all. Whatever the case, he was standing there in Serena's t-shirt that was obviously too big for him, and her gym shorts were worn over his slacks.

          "Darien!" Serena tried not to laugh, "You need any help there?"

          The stubborn streak that Serena was beginning to see more and more flashed for a second in his eyes. However, he looked at himself and relented.

          "Yes," he muttered.

          Serena tried to stifle her giggles as she bent down to help him out of his slacks. Then, she helped him into her gym shorts.

          "Better?" she asked.

          "Much," he nodded in agreement and smiled at her, "Thanks."

          "No problem," she replied, "Now, off to bed you go!" She ushered him towards her bed and tucked the blankets in.

          "Where will you sleep?" he asked.

          "In the living room," she said, "I need to find out what's going on anyway."

          Darien grabbed onto Serena's wrist, pleading with his eyes for her not to go. "Don't go… Please?"

          Serena was confused for a second. What was he afraid of? "I'm only going to be in the next room sweetie. If you need anything, just call me and I'll be here."

          Darien wouldn't let go of Serena's wrist. For some reason, he desperately wanted her to stay. "Please? I don't want to be alone again."

          "Again?" Serena sat down next to him on the bed, "What do you mean sweetie?"

          His eyes closed for a moment, and his face filled with pain. Something that was too painful for him to remember, or something that he didn't want to remember.

He opened his eyes again and said, "I… don't remember."

          Serena closely examined his face again, trying to decipher what had just happened. For an instant, Serena had thought that he would remember who his family was and… leave her. But first and foremost, was her growing concern for this child. What had happened to him that caused him to have this… amnesia? 

          After studying his face one more time, Serena came up with nothing. Whatever was there had left, and all that remained was his will to make her stay.

          "All right," she nodded, "I'll stay."

          Darien smiled in relief, and all the fierce energy that was there immediately dissipated. Serena smiled back and fixed his hair.

          "Just let me take care of a few things first, okay?"

          Darien nodded and snuggled deeper into the blankets.

          Serena left the room to gather more blankets, noting how considerably cold it was getting. She tidied up her living room, the only place that she made an effort to keep clean, and went back to her bedroom.

          She laid the extra blankets on top of the one already on her bed and climbed in next to Darien.

          Darien, who was watching what she did the whole time, moved in closer to her and leaned his head on her shoulder.

          Serena leaned over to turn blow out the candle, and then snuggled into the blankets as well. She felt a peace settle over her as sleep edged closer to take her consciousness.

          For the first time in months, the two slept peacefully, knowing that nothing in the world could disturb them from their slumber.

---


	5. four

Dancing Snow

                   –-:four.

\\.Tennyo

---

          Something startled Serena from her sleep. One of her eyes popped open as her heart beat suddenly sped up. Was it an intruder? What was going on?

          There! She heard it again! There were jingles coming from her living room! Serena looked to her side to see if Darien had heard it too. Either she was beginning to hear things or he was just too deep in his slumber to notice. 

          Serena quickly got out of bed and grabbed the nearest weapon she could find. She didn't play baseball, so the only weapon she had was her… lacrosse stick. Never mind, it would have to do!

          Slowly, Serena edged her way towards her closed door and saw that there was light peeking at the edge of her door. Didn't she turn the lights off?

          She turned the knob and ran into her living room. "Freeze right there mister!" Freeze… right… there? Where did that come from? Oh never mind that! 

          The intruder paused midway into her window and looked like a deer caught in front of headlights.

          "Mr… Waltham?" Serena asked, bewildered.

          Mr. Waltham was trying to squeeze his pudgy self into her narrow window with a sack of toys behind his shoulder. He had the whole Santa Clause thing going, complete with the red suit, black boots, and the white flowing beard.

          Serena dropped her lacrosse stick and tried to help her employer in. It's not everyday that you see a fifty plus man trying to fit through your twelfth floor window. She did, however, have to wonder what he was doing climbing in through her window when he could've simply ringed the doorbell. But then again, what in the world was he doing at this hour? She glanced at the clock that was perched atop her television set. It was past two in the morning!

          Finally, Mr. Waltham climbed through her window and stumbled onto her living room floor. 

          "That," he huffed, "Was," he wheezed, "A long ass climb."

          Serena dusted the snow off his suit and helped him towards her couch. "Are you all right Mr. Waltham? Why are you climbing through my window?"

          All of a sudden, Mr. Waltham glared at her, "Am I ALL RIGHT? This tyke asks if I'm all right," he muttered, "If you hadn't been so hell bent on getting your own apartment, it would've been much easier for be to get down here!"

          "What?"

          "You! You college students these days always want to go out on their own and," he mocked, "_Find yourselves_."

          "Well piss that!" he exclaimed, his jolly red face getting redder by the second, "You know how much trouble it was to climb down from the roof?"

          "I-" Serena said but Mr. Waltham interrupted her with a wave of his hand.

          "You young'uns have no idea how hard it is! In the old days, there weren't any CARS or AIRPLANES or special HARNESSES to climb down steep mountains."

          "Well," Serena remarked, "I don't suppose there were any flying sleds in the old days either."

          Mr. Waltham paused and looked at her. "You…" he pointed at her, "You reckless college student! My back will hurt for months now. If only you had listened to your mother and stayed at your nice two-story house, I could've simply come down your chimney! But noooo, you just _had_ to move into one of these chimney-less apartments! Why, I ought-"

          Serena interrupted Mr. Waltham. "Sir," Serena said, "If I may ask, what you are doing in my living room, and at such a late hour!"

          Mr. Waltham finally toppled off his mighty horse and had the decency to blush. "Er," he muttered, "About that. You see, you were part of a plan-"

          "A plan?" Serena's eyes bulged.

          "Yes, you see," he continued, "The little boy that is currently sleeping in your bedroom is none other than Mr. Darien Shields of Shields Enterprises."

          Serena frowned, "That doesn't ring a bell."

          "Of course it doesn't," he said, "Right now, it is only a fledgling company. But a year from now, it will be one of the most powerful companies of America!"

          "And that has to do with me… how?"

          Mr. Waltham frowned at her in disapproval, "Let me finish and you'll find out!"

          "All right, all right!" she mumbled, "Sorry."

          "As with all successful businessmen, something had happened to them when they were children, something that caused them to have this ambitious drive that allowed them to be business geniuses," he said, "With Mr. Shields, it is no exception. However, we had deemed him a special case because unlike his competitors, who perhaps had just grown up from a poor family, Mr. Shields had no family."

          Serena's face fell. "No family?"

          "Yes," Mr. Waltham confirmed, "Mr. Shields had led a pretty harsh childhood. First, he lost his parents-"

          "His parents!" Serena exclaimed, unable to keep her emotions from surfacing. 

          "Now, now my dear Serena," Mr. Waltham held his hand up for silence, "Let me continue."

          Serena nodded numbly and sat down across from him on her coffee table.

          "He lost his parents at a very young age, quite a tragedy I might add, and endured extreme hardships in the orphanage that he was thrown into. All in all, his deprived childhood had turned him into a ruthless businessman, incapable of love and incapable of trust."

          "But… Darien's not like that."

          Mr. Waltham smiled. "Of course he's not. And that's where you come in, my dear."

          "I do?"

          "You see, Mr. Shields was leading a pretty pathetic life. However rich he was or is going to be, he would never be happy. His future consisted of nothing but the occasional whore to keep his otherwise cold bed warm, and basically just buying up his competitors without remorse."

          "Still, I don't see what that has to do with me."

          "You, my dear Serena, were given the task to fulfill Mr. Shields' wish. He never had a loving childhood you see, and we planned for you to give him one."

          "But… how am I able to do that?"

          "You already have!"

          "I have? How?"

          "By showing him compassion and generosity, you have made up in a day what he had craved for years."

          "Oh… really?"

          "Yeah!" Mr. Waltham leaned over and patted her on her back, "Good job!"

          "Er… thanks," Serena muttered, still slightly confused, "But that doesn't explain why Darien's a child. Isn't he supposed to be an adult now?"

          "Well, yes. That's where I come in," he said, "We-"

          "We? We who?" Serena asked suspiciously.

          "The elves and I, of course!" he said like it all made perfect sense.

          "Er… right."

          "Well, we basically turned back the clock for Mr. Shields. He is actually twenty-eight years of age at your present time, but we made him into a child for a day so that he can experience what love and kindness really is."

          "So what happens now?"

          "Well, twenty four hours after the time we turned back the clock, he will be twenty-eight again, hopefully with a better heart and an extra spring in his step."

          "Oh," Serena looked down, disappointed, "When did you guys change him?"

          Mr. Waltham glanced at his watch, "Oh about a quarter to four."

          Serena looked at her own clock, dismayed to see there were only ten minutes left before Darien reverted back to his normal self.

          "Wait a minute," she said, "So this whole thing, the shoe causing the whole structure to tumble down, Sandy leaving for a last minute vacation, the blackout… everything! It was done for this reason?"

          "Yes!" Mr. Waltham chuckled proudly, "It was rather an ingenious idea wasn't it?"

          "Er… I guess."

          "So what happens now?"

          "Well, it's Christmas Eve now and I still have lots more houses to visit."

          "Are you really Santa Clause?" Serena eyed his beard suspiciously.

          Mr. Waltham laughed. "Go ahead dear. I know you want to go for a tug." He stuck his chin out and Serena was slightly disappointed to see that it didn't come off.

          "But I don't remember you having a beard, Mr. Waltham."

          He winked at her. "Magic," he whispered. He glanced at his watch again. It was time for things to come back to normal.

          He stood up, but Serena urged him to stay put and quickly ran into her bedroom. 

          The sight before her was amazing. She had to force herself not to rub her eyes to make sure it was real. 

          There were sprinkles flying around little Darien's body, trailing all over his sleeping form and making his short legs grow longer and his cute, chubby face grow leaner. He grew and grew until the oversized shirt wasn't so big on him anymore, and his big feet stuck out of the warm blankets.

          Serena looked on, her eyes wide with shock. How could this be happening?

          "Wait!" Serena yelled and ran back into her living room. However, she was disappointed to find it empty with her curtains billowing from the wind.

          When she went back into her bedroom, the lights turned back on and Darien was nowhere to be found.

          "What's about me?" she muttered.

          Serena walked slowly to her bed and collapsed on top of it. Tears that she hadn't known were filling up began trickling down her face. Her cries turned into fitful sobs until she quieted and eventually fell asleep.

          Little Darien was gone, and she was alone again.

---


	6. epilogue

Dancing Snow

                   –-:epilogue.

\\.Tennyo

---

          Serena awoke with a horrible headache that grew increasingly hard to ignore. She groaned and got up, blinking at the lights shining from her window. She stumbled a little as she made her way into her bedroom. She must've had a wild night or something, she felt like she was having a hangover.

          Serena's mind was a little bit fogged up. It must've been a strong shot she downed; otherwise, she would have remembered _something_. However, as she got herself ready for the day, her mind didn't clear up much. The pounding headache receded to a slight ebb, but nothing else improved.

          She made her way into her bedroom, tripping over a few articles of clothing. Really, she needed to clean her room one day. Who knew how long it would take for someone to find her if she accidentally lost her footing and broke her neck?

          Oh never mind her pitiful life.

          Serena glanced at the calendar hanging next to her window. Crap! It was Christmas Day! She was supposed to spend the evening with her family and she hadn't even bought presents yet!

          Serena dressed hurriedly and ran around her room, trying to find her shoes. God! Nothing ever went right for her! Why can't something just happen the way she wanted to for once in her life!

          When Serena entered her living room, she slowed her pace until she came into a full stop. 

          What… in the world…?

          Her usually sparse living room was teeming with Christmas decorations, complete with a bulging Christmas tree tucked into the corner. There were boxes of presents flowing at every available space, but the centerpiece- the centerpiece was what had stopped Serena in her tracks.

          Sitting on her sofa was none other than Mr. Darien Shields dressed in a larger version of his former clothing, but with a red dress-shirt on instead.

          "Surprise?" he grinned.

          Serena opened and closed her mouth several times, not really acknowledging the fact that she must look like a fish to this gorgeous man.

          "What…?" she stumbled, "How did you…?"

          Serena noticed that his voice was much deeper than his young former self had been. Wait a minute, this was entirely too weird. His young former self? It was one thing to get over the initial shock of finding her living room completely changed overnight, but it was quite another to find such a striking man sitting in the middle of it all.

          Darien got up and led her towards the sofa. He sat next to her and peered over her head. "You know, you look a lot shorter than I remembered."

          She gulped and looked at him, "Well, you're a whole lot taller." 

          Serena has a sudden uncontrollable urge to laugh. And laugh she did, in a most unladylike way that oddly resembled that of a braying donkey. But it was all right, everything seemed all right at that moment. 

          Surrounded by the warmth of a gorgeous man sitting next to her, Serena could definitely get used to this.

          Just as quickly, her laughter died down and her eyes brimmed with tears.

          "What's wrong?" Darien asked in concern.

          "I don't know," she rambled, "I don't' know what's going on. First you were this little boy. Now you're this handsome man. But he took you away. I don't know how, but Santa Clause took you away just when I thought I would be happy with the idea of taking care of a little kid. But now look at you! You're all grown up. I don't know if I should be proud in a motherly sort of way, or be freaked out in a normal sort of way. I just-" Serena shook her head and flapped her hands onto her lap, "I just don't know anymore."

          Darien got up and offered her hand. Uncertainly, Serena took it. The shock was making her do this. Really, it was the shock that made her look like a fool. If she was given a day, or two, or maybe just a week to absorb all of this, then she'd be much better than she was now.

          However, when Serena took his hand, all her worries were left behind as she was enthralled by his midnight blue eyes. He was a good head taller than she was now, but she didn't find anything wrong with that.

          Slowly, he led her outside. It was snowing again, but not as hard as it was before. The gentle snowflakes were slowly dancing in the air to its own music, waiting to rest on the white blanket of snow. Darien led her by a path to a circle that was cleared of snow.

          Out of nowhere, slow music echoed throughout the courtyard behind Serena's apartment. Darien pulled Serena close to him and pulled his overcoat over her. Together, they swayed back and forth, back and forth. 

          Serena leaned her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his waist. All worries and thoughts had escaped her, and the only thing left was a sense of belonging that consumed her senses.

          Serena snuggled in closer and continued to dance with him.

          She was home at last.

---+

          Old Lady Waltham whacked her grandson on the head. "Johnny! What do you think you're doing letting Serena go out there in the cold like that!"

          Mr. Waltham winced. He was glad, at the very least, that his wife wasn't here to nag him as well. She was still in their factory, taking care of things. Mrs. Santa Clause was really the one that made Christmas happen. 

Sure, he took care of the delivering on Christmas Eve, but before then, she was the one that hustled about, making sure every single child received a present come Christmas time.

          "Look!" he insisted, "It's more romantic that way. See how he wrapped her coat around her? I think that's sweet."

          "I don't think so! Why won't you just make him buy her a jacket?" Old Lady Waltham complained, "She bought _him_ one!"

          "Well look at all the presents he bought her!"

          "Are any of _those_ a jacket?"

          "…Probably!"

          Together, the two old farts looked on lovingly at the sight before them. From their position on top of the roof, they had a pretty decent view. Good thing the elves were here, otherwise there wouldn't be any of that lovely music that the two tots were dancing to. 

          Speaking of which, old Grumpy was still complaining about Serena's "rude" behavior at the mall. Really, Mr. Waltham had chided, he needed to keep his temper in check. Happy agreed with Mr. Waltham, saying that the beautiful Serena had been a delight to be around at the supermarket.

          Grumpy and Happy bickered for a while longer, but when the music stopped, everyone fell silent.

          Serena and Darien danced to their own tune for a while, then Darien pulled away.

          "Darnit!" Grumpy complained, "Why didn't anyone bring in the sound amplifier? Now we can't hear what they're saying!"

          "Hush!" Old Lady Waltham said, "We need to give them their privacy!"

          The audience looked on as Darien probably said something romantic that Serena blushed to. Then, he brought her closer and planted a soft kiss on her lips.

          The audience just couldn't contain themselves here.

          "Awwwww!"

          Serena quickly broke away and looked around her. Finally, she saw the culprits who had disturbed one of the most romantic moments of her life.

          "Santa!" she yelled, "STOP PEAKING AND GO BACK TO MRS. SANTA CLAUSE!"

          Mr. Waltham and crew had the decency to blush. Slowly, they piled back into the sleigh; taking care to look back a few times to see if anymore had happened. Unfortunately, Serena was staring daggers at them. They were all sorely disappointed to find there were no more mushy displays left to be seen.

          When the last of the jingles died away, Darien pulled Serena back to him.

          "Merry Christmas, Serena," he whispered while leaning his forehead on hers.

          "Mer-"

          Serena was interrupted by a sudden onslaught of jingles. Overhead, Santa and the elves came rushing back to the scene.

          "MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL," they bellowed, "AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!"

          Quickly, Santa led the reindeers away before Serena could hit them with her ice-packed snowball.

          That girl got a good aim.

~el fin~

Merry Christmas everyone!

*tosses cookies*

feedback please!

Tennyo012@yahoo.com


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